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| Tower of London, by Samspade79, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 |
The Tower of London is a historic castle and officially Her Majesty's royal palace located in London on the north bank of River Thames. Around 2 million people visit this place annually. Besides famous as a tourist attraction Tower of London is Notorious as a haunted place because of the tragic events that took place there.
A Brief History of the Tower of London
The Tower of London was built by William the Conqueror in 1066. William, Duke of Normandy built this tower as a royal residence after his victory in the Battle of Hastings Duke William only built the white tower and the inner wards of this tower were built in the twelfth century.
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| Image Credits: Openclipart |
The majority of the Norman castle was built using timber at that time but by the end of the 11th century, most of the castle was renovated with stone. In fact, the white tower (the central tower and, the old keep at the tower of London) The white tower was the castle's strongest point at that time and provided the king and the representatives. Since the tower of London was situated in a strategic area this strong point was an upper hand militarily at that time.
As per the Anglo-Saxon chronicle after William's death in 1087 William II became the King of England and it was he who built the wall around the tower in 1097.
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| William II, by User:Saforrest, licensed under GFDL/CC BY-SA 3.0 |
In the following years, this tower had been expanded and developed for the purpose of controlling a nation. This tower was used for protecting the Kings and Queens and in times of trouble and their possessions until the 1800s.
This 900+-year-old tower is one of the oldest buildings in the United Kingdom. Today this tower is one of the popular tourist attractions in the U.K and the Tower of London is Protected as a world heritage site
Major Tragic Events and Hauntings of the Tower of London
The tower's use as a Royal residence ended during the beginning of the Tudor Period. After its use as a royal house, the Tower of London was converted into a prison and a place of execution. This tower has centuries of bloody history which is considered the main reason for this tower being haunted.
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| Image Credits: Pexels |
Many prisoners were imprisoned here during the hundred years war until they were ransomed but some of those prisoners were tortured to death here. The two sons of King Edward IV, Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury who only aged 12 and 9 was also imprisoned there after his death in 1483. They both never came out of the tower alive. It is also said that they were killed by their uncle Richard III who took the throne for himself.
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| "Edward and Richard", by Paul Hudson, licensed under CC BY SA |
The most famous prisoners here were the two wives of King Henry the VIII. Catherine Howard and Anne Boleyn both of them were found guilty for treason and adultery and both of them were imprisoned and later executed here.
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| Anne Boleyn |
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| Catherine Howard |
Another famous person who was imprisoned here Guy Fawkes, a member of provisional English Catholic. He tried to blow up the house of lords and monarch by detonating gun powder in the cellar below in 1605. He got imprisoned here and Tortured brutally and was executed on 31 January 1606.
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| Guy Fawkes |
Besides these famous people, many criminals and war prisoners were also brutally tortured to death. Tower of London was used as a prison from medieval ages to the mid-20th century and the last prisoner here was a german politician named Rudolph Hess who was also the deputy of Adolf Hitler and he was captured here until he was transferred and the last person to be executed here was Josef Jakobs a german spy who was captured shortly after parachuting in the U.K during the World War II and he was shot by a military firing squad in here.
Due to its centuries of bloody history, the Tower of London is regarded as a haunted place. The ghost of Anne Boleyn, supposedly the Church of St Peter ad Vincula in the tower where she was buried. Many people and staff here claim to see her ghost who carries her head in her hand. Another famous ghost story regarding this place is the ghost of the two princes who were killed in this tower. It is said that their ghost also haunts this tower. Many people who came here also claimed to see the ghosts of Henry VI, Margaret Pole, and Lady Jane Grey along with countless other people who were executed or tortured to death here during its 900 years of history.
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